The Roof is on Fire (6 page)

After two more weeks had gone by, I was having Desa Rae withdrawal. I couldn't shake my thoughts about what she had been up to, and I needed to hear her voice. I would give anything right about now to be at home, watching her read one of her favorite books, cooking dinner, or yelling at me for doing or saying the wrong shit. Anything…to have her legs wrapped around my back while fucking her brains out. I could taste her sweetness on my lips. I could feel her sliding up and down on me, and at this point, I felt like I was going whack without her.

I sat at the kitchen table, high as hell from some fire weed Prince had left behind. While in a daze, a vision of Desa Rae's pretty face appeared before me. I saw her at work, handling her business and at home taking care of our daughter. I imagined her tossing and turning in bed, disappointed because I wasn't there. I knew she was missing the hell out of me too, all in the name of Black Love. I don't think I ever loved a woman as much as I loved her, and I hoped like hell that she knew it. Why? Because I was starting to get eager. Eager to get this over with, by any means necessary.

By now, I thought Jeff would've swooped back through here to inquire about a vote. Jaylin and I agreed that Chase had to go. She had started to work her magic on him too. I noticed them getting
closer. Their conversation seemed to pick up, and I knew lust in a man's eyes when I saw it.

Me, I was horny as fuck. Jada's thickness was such a turn on to me, but her foul mouth and sassiness made me run far away from her. She probably had some of Li'l Roc's mother, Vanessa's, blood running through her, and that in no way worked for me. I didn't like how bold Chase was, but truthfully, she was the next best thing to a good fuck. I felt myself slipping. That was why I wanted her to hurry up and get out of here.

Lunch was over. After I ended a game of Spades with Jaylin, we changed clothes and went outside to team up for a game of tennis. Nobody really liked to play, but it wasn't as if we had many options. Chase and Jada waited for us to make it to the court. When we got there, it was a pleasure to see them dressed in tight shorts and tanks, and ready to get started. Both of their hair was pulled back into ponytails, but with Chase's being fake, hers hung longer. She rested the racket on her shoulder and squinted at me and Jaylin rocking our tank shirts and shorts.

“How are we going to team up?” Chase asked.

“I say pull names.” Jaylin looked at Jada from the corner of his eye. “That way, I don't have to be on nobody's team who ain't willing to work.”

Jada rolled her eyes. “Well, looks like you're stuck with me, because Chase thinks she's too cute to play. And you're shit out of luck because I can tell Roc don't know nothin' about playin' tennis.”

“You may be right,” I said. “But I would put some money on it that you don't know much about it either.”

“I know more than you. That's why I prefer to be on Jaylin's team. He always comes off as a real winner.”

Jaylin's ego was stroked, so he was down with Jada being on his
team. They partnered up on one side; Chase and I were on the other side.

“Who gon' serve the ball first?” I asked.

Jaylin nodded in Chase's direction. She bounced the ball with her racket, then served it over the net. Jada let the ball fly past her, even though it went out of bounds.

“Wait a minute.” Jada placed her hand on her hip. “Wasn't Chase supposed to say somethin' like ‘one luv'?”

Jaylin responded. “Just do your part in getting the ball over the net, all right?”

Jada rolled her eyes again, and then licked her tongue out at Chase for hitting the ball out of bounds. They thought the shit was funny, but Jaylin and I waited with irritation displayed on our faces for Jada to stop clowning and serve the ball.

“One luv, Jaylin. I bet'cha can't have just one luuuuv,” Jada sang.

Jaylin snapped. “Why don't you quit playing so fucking much? Serve the ball. Damn!”

Jada served the ball. It was a decent serve. I hit the ball back over the net and Jaylin followed with a good backhand that dropped in front of Chase. She swung, but missed.

Jada couldn't wait to comment. “She may be cute, but she sho' ain't no Serena Williams. Girl, you swatted that ball like it was a pesky fly.”

She and Chase laughed; Jaylin and I didn't. We were ready to get back to the game.

For a while, we had a good routine going, as well as a competitive game. Jada and Jaylin had won the first set and Chase and I were about to win the next one.

“Get yo game face on, Jada,” Jaylin suggested. “Come on, baby, let's do this.”

“Don't worry about me. I got this.”

I served the ball to Jada, thinking that she wasn't on her game. Unfortunately, she was. She hit the ball back over the net and it bounced directly in front of Chase. She swatted at the ball, missing it.

A frown covered my face. “Damn, ma. What you over there doin'? Get focused so we can win this.”

“Not today,” Jada said. “The way Jaylin's curls over there sweatin', y'all won't be winnin' anything. That brotha is workin' hard. Look at my boo.”

She and Chased laughed again; we didn't.

“Do you have a problem with my natural curls?” Jaylin asked Jada.

“No, but why they shinin' and drippin'? They've gotten tighter too, but they still cute, though.”

Jaylin tucked the racket underneath his arm and walked over to Jada. “If you help me win this, you can do whatever you wish to with my curls. But now ain't the time to talk about how they look, even though the look of them may be the result of me sweating my ass off while trying to win this game.”

“Anything?” Jada wiggled her fingers through his natural curls. “You say I can do anything I wish?”

He grabbed her hand and squeezed her wrist. “Anything. Just not now.”

“Okay. Then give me the ball. It's my time to serve, since Chase fell asleep on the last serve and missed.”

“No, Chase is getting tired,” she said. “I don't like playing tennis, nor do I like that Roc keeps hollering at me.”

My face scrunched as I looked in her direction. “Ain't nobody hollerin' at you. I just need for you to pay attention and hit the damn ball.”

“See, there you go again. Jada, serve the ball and be sure to hit it toward me.”

Jada served the ball. As it came down near Chase, she purposely yawned and ignored it.

“Chase,” I shouted. “What the fuck are you doin'?”

“I'm focusing, Roc. Focusing on making us lose this game because you keep yelling at me.”

“What the fuck do you want me to do if you ain't puttin' forth no effort to win the game?”

“I want you to apologize to me. Then I may put forth some effort to help
you.”

This shit was a wrap. I was mad as hell. She would get no apology from me, and it was safe to say that Jaylin and Jada had won. If I was forced to say anything else, I would offend Chase. I chalked it up as a loss and kept it moving. I dropped my racket on the ground and held out my fist to give Jada and Jaylin dap for winning.

“Good game,” I said. “I guess y'all are the winners by default.”

“We'll take it!” Jada shouted.

Jaylin pounded my fist and I cut my eyes at Chase as I headed off the court.

“Fuck you too, Roc,” she spat. “I know what that look meant. Instead of acting like a spoiled brat, why don't you man up and say what you really want to say?”

“Ma, you'd better chill with that noise. If I say what I really want to say, you gon' get your feelings hurt. It's best that you pull back and not say another word to me, if you know what's good for you.”

“I can't believe you're getting all bent out of shape over a game. Why don't you cheer up? You'll be getting back to that slut you keep mumbling about in your sleep, so cool out.”

Chase had touched a nerve. I thought she wouldn't be capable of going there with me, but what did I know? Disrespecting Desa
Rae and calling her a slut was the quickest way to make me show my ass. I cocked my neck from side to side and strutted up to Chase.

“Bitch, you don't know nothin' about me or my woman. My suggestion, correct yourself before I pull a Prince Perkins on that ass. I'mma dare you to say one more offensive thing to me, and I can promise you that doin' so will hurt you more than it will hurt me. Now, make a move with your mouth, if you dare.”

As we stood face to face, sucking in the airspace between us, Chase stared at me without a blink. I gazed back into her eyes, watching as they grew with anger. Not once did she open her mouth, but Jaylin did.

“Here we go again, huh? Roc, you know I'm not gon' let you go out like that, so don't even think about it. Chase, apologize to that man and go inside. It's your turn to cook dinner, and after this workout, I'm starving.”

For at least another minute, Chase didn't move. She finally blinked and stepped away from me.

“Apology my ass,” she mumbled, then walked off. “Jaylin, you need to get some order with your boyz from the hood. They need to learn how to respect the ladies.”

“Ladies, I do respect,” I fired back. “Hoes, I will not. That's on a for real tip, ma, you've been called out.”

I wickedly laughed, watching as Chase and Jada went into the house. The whole damn incident left me with a bad taste in my mouth about Chase. I was going to get my apology, along with so much more than that.

See, Roc had slipped, fell, and bumped his head when he brought up Prince's name like it was a good thing what he had done to me. Didn't he know that women were sensitive about that shit? I was a bit upset with him, but I was sure my anger would cease.

As for the argument between him and Chase, that was a first. He got in her ass over a stupid game, but I was happy to see her stand her ground. I guess since we were the only two females in the house, we had to get along better. The fellas showed how they were willing to come together and boot out Sylvia, so we had to watch our backs.

Now that the tennis game was over, I sat at the computer desk to answer some fan mail that I had gotten. Once I finished replying, I intended to deal with Jaylin and his curls.

Hi, Jada. I'm Shelly P. from Detroit. I gotta say that I almost came looking for you myself when you kept playing with Kiley's heart. I didn't like the way you handled yawl's relationship and you seemed like a real gold-digger. All you did was bitch, bitch, bitch about him and his friends. Why would you try to stop him from being a father to his son? That was wrong on so many levels and I'm glad he finally found somebody who had his back.

See, I was in a good mood, but it was stuff like this that pissed
me the fuck off. This surely didn't sound like a fan—more like a hater. I bit into my lip and punched hard on the keyboard to reply.

First of all, Shelly, the only woman who ever had Kiley's back was me. Anna was a fake and he knew it. Sorry that you couldn't see so for yourself. And my heart was the only one being tampered with, because Kiley was trying to live on both sides of the fence. I do, however, regret my childish behavior with his son, but remember that he lied about that too. It was very difficult living with a man and having his friends and family there all the time disrespecting me. You have no idea what that was like, but I put up with it because I loved Kiley to death. His money came in handy, and as a dope-man's woman, was I supposed to run around looking raggedy and shit? Was I supposed to not have my hair and nails done, and not rock the finest clothes that I could? Uh, no. He wanted me to have the best, and I wasn't going to argue with him about that. I'mma end it right here, because you done upset me with yo accusations. The bottom line is I know I contributed to fucking up our relationship, and you already know why I can't change a damn thing that happened. *Tears*

I had to sit for a minute and chill out. Thoughts of Kiley flooded my mind, but after a while, I took a deep breath and stood up. When I walked over to where Jaylin was, he acted like he had forgotten about those curls. I interrupted a boxing match him and Roc were playing on PlayStation, while Chase was cooking dinner.

“What,” Jaylin said as I pushed his shoulder.

“Uh, did you forget about your hair? You said I could do anything I wanted to with it.”

He ignored me while finishing the boxing game with Roc. When Roc knocked out his character, Jaylin fell back on the couch.

“Damn! I want a do-over. Jada interrupted me and I lost focus.”

Roc laughed and stood to stretch. “No excuse. It's over. The rematch has to take place after dinner, because I'm hungry.”

“Please tell me why y'all men are so competitive?” I said. “And you may as well sit back down, Roc, because Chase is takin' her sweet little time in the kitchen.”

Roc looked into the kitchen, seeing that there wasn't much going on. He sat back down and relaxed on the couch.